Hi Adair It is hard to find material like that up here and you are very lucky to have that resource. I guess I will just keep growing my own. Hope I live another 20 years. Thankyou for your honesty.Qualicum Brian

I am grafting on this tree. There are two approach grafts "in progress".

This tree was field grown in Oregan. For bonsai. Kris at Telperion Farms grows them in pumice, let's them grow out, cuts them back while trying to preserve low branches. When I received it, it was in an Anderson flat, with primarily black pumice for soil. I don't think it was grown over a tile. The trunk shows multiple scars where old sacrifice branches have been removed.

I have seen some pictures of his trees in the ground. Some of the sacrifice trunks/branches can get to 10 to 12 feet tall!

Adair interesting, I have a couple of older trees that this technique was used on. The scars persist for decades. Looks like you have avoided having them up front. The others could be there a long time.

This tree has a MAJOR scar, that by Boon's turning the tree, has it in the back. There are also several other scars in various stages of healing over. The big scar has a nice callous growing, and we used that callous to graft the new first branch. Boon says those callous take grafts well.

One thing that helps heal scars is to let a new sacrifice leader grow. Of course, when it's time to cut it off, it creates a new scar! Catch-22.

Once the tree begins the "refinement" stage, and gets decandled everywhere every year, the scar healing will slow. I may have to resort to covering the big scar with clay cut paste and pressing some bark into that to hide the scar.

How would one go about working those wounds? same as decidous by cutting away a sliver on the inside of the callus each spring, then sealing with wound putty? almost like working wounds on deciduous trees?